1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to sporting goods and, more particularly, to a frame bumper guard for protecting the head of a racket from skinning, abrasions, and stresses associated with unintentionally contacting a court surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
In games that involve the use of a racket and ball, such as tennis, squash, and racquetball, there is inevitable wear and tear induced on the racket frame as a result of the racket striking the playing surface. With enough contact, the frame becomes worn and may even crack. When sufficient wear is induced, the frame may collapse as a result of impacting a ball, or stringing the racket with new strings. In fact, many rackets are constructed with a plastic or rubber-like guard on the head of racket to address this problem. These products are very effective for a period of time. However, most participants in these types of games have a tendency, due to a swing style or play habits for example, to scrape or wear in fairly specific and consistent places along the frame. Once the guard becomes worn, the frame is exposed. The conventional guard that comes with the racket is held in place by the strings and, therefore, cannot be relocated. The entire guard needs to be completely replaced by re-stringing the racket, even though only a small portion of the guard may be worn.
Since new rackets are constantly being introduced to the market, and old racket designs withdrawn, it is likely that replacements are unavailable when it becomes time to replace a worn guard. Many a player has had to retire a beloved set of rackets, or use their rackets until they break, only because they could not find replacement racket head guards.
There are some after-market protection devices that have been introduced as a replacement, or as an augmentation to the guard systems that come standard with most rackets. For example, a “head tape” exists that can be attached to the frame. The “head tape” is easily applied to any location on the frame, but is not very durable. Another device uses a long plastic filament that spiral wraps around the frame or is secured by using a winding tie, both of which span an extended length along the top of the frame. However, this system requires the replacement of the entire length, even if only a portion of the device is worn. The long length and added coverage also creates additional, unnecessary weight.
Another conventional protection system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,130, Beranek. This patent uses a one-piece reinforced tie wrap-like device. This single-piece system is designed with a uniform thickness that extends the length of the device. The device thickness protects the exterior portion of the frame. However, the device is thicker than necessary on the interior portion of the frame where the opposite ends mate. The thickness prevents the device from being tightly secured. As a result, the device is likely to spin on the frame, and is unlikely to remain secured over the frame region needing the protection.
It would be advantageous if a frame guard could be secured to specific regions of a racket head needing protection.
It would be advantageous if the above-mentioned frame guard could be secured to the racket overlying the racket strings, or without having to restring the racket.